Rom 10:11-12 | KingComments | STEP | . In the law in Leviticus 18, God said to Moses that someone could obtain life only by being obedient to the law ( ). In saying this, God indicated that someone can earn his righteousness by keeping the law. But no one kept the law or can keep the law. . Now there is another way to get righteousness and this is on the principle of faith. One’s ‘own righteousness’ is out of the question. When we talk about faith, all of our works to get to heaven are excluded. At the end of Paul strongly states that our works to get to heaven are a denial of the ascension of Christ. It is the same as saying: ‘Let Him come down again; I’ve no need of His work because I’ll accomplish it by my strength.’ But His work was necessary to give you God’s righteousness. He has gone to heaven as proof that His work has been completely accepted by God. You wouldn’t say then: “Who will ascend into heaven?” Here is the thought of reaching heaven by one’s efforts. As long as this is being thought, the work of Christ is slighted and He is pulled down. . And don’t say either: “Who will descend into the abyss?” This is to say you need to descend into the abyss to wipe out your debt with some kind of penance. This would be impossible. Who can ever descend into the depths of misery into which Christ descended? The one who tries this takes Christ up out of death, thinking Christ’s death for himself was unnecessary and he can satisfy God as to his debt by himself. . But if you believe God’s actions are righteous, you’ll know that God in Christ has come very close to you. You don’t have to go to Him; He has come to you. He has come so close to you that He has laid His word in your mouth and heart. You have been saved because the word of faith has been preached to you. . The content of the preaching is to confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe with your heart that God raised Him up from the dead. If you believe this, you know God no longer is against you and no longer has anything against you. On the contrary, He is for you. The order is remarkable. First it is your mouth and then your heart. The mouth is mentioned first because your faith can only be observed by others in what they hear and see from you. You can’t say someone is saved if you don’t notice anything of it in his or her behavior and talk. The confession of Jesus as Lord is what it’s all about. It’s just not possible to accept Jesus only as Savior, as Redeemer from your sins. A moment came in your life when you acknowledged you couldn’t save yourself and couldn’t exist before God because you had failed in everything. You failed because you were listening to a different master, the devil. And then, God showed you He has given over the Lord Jesus to death for your sins. The Lord Jesus has freed you from the burden of sin which you couldn’t bear. Aren’t you incredibly thankful for this? Now you’re His property. I hope others can see the Lord Jesus is your Lord. . Of course, the heart is what it’s all about. With your heart, you believe unto righteousness. But it must become outwardly visible because it is with your mouth you confess unto salvation. . Maybe you view your confession very poorly; it could have been a lot better. I wish I did it much better. But keep in mind what Scripture says: “Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.” Faith has to do with trust. For your salvation, you have put your trust in God and no longer in yourself. This trust gives you the strength to witness, because it is not self-centered, but God-centered. By reading the Bible, you’ll get to know God and the Lord Jesus better, and your faith will increase. The more you study the Bible, the more you’ll see it in your practice both in word and in deed. Now read Romans 10:5-11 again. Reflection: What is the relation between your mouth and your heart?

‏ Romans 10:11-12

Heart and Mouth

Rom 10:5. In the law in Leviticus 18, God said to Moses that someone could obtain life only by being obedient to the law (Lev 18:5). In saying this, God indicated that someone can earn his righteousness by keeping the law. But no one kept the law or can keep the law.

Rom 10:6. Now there is another way to get righteousness and this is on the principle of faith. One’s ‘own righteousness’ is out of the question. When we talk about faith, all of our works to get to heaven are excluded. At the end of Rom 10:6 Paul strongly states that our works to get to heaven are a denial of the ascension of Christ. It is the same as saying: ‘Let Him come down again; I’ve no need of His work because I’ll accomplish it by my strength.’ But His work was necessary to give you God’s righteousness.

He has gone to heaven as proof that His work has been completely accepted by God. You wouldn’t say then: “Who will ascend into heaven?” Here is the thought of reaching heaven by one’s efforts. As long as this is being thought, the work of Christ is slighted and He is pulled down.

Rom 10:7. And don’t say either: “Who will descend into the abyss?” This is to say you need to descend into the abyss to wipe out your debt with some kind of penance. This would be impossible. Who can ever descend into the depths of misery into which Christ descended? The one who tries this takes Christ up out of death, thinking Christ’s death for himself was unnecessary and he can satisfy God as to his debt by himself.

Rom 10:8. But if you believe God’s actions are righteous, you’ll know that God in Christ has come very close to you. You don’t have to go to Him; He has come to you. He has come so close to you that He has laid His word in your mouth and heart. You have been saved because the word of faith has been preached to you.

Rom 10:9. The content of the preaching is to confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe with your heart that God raised Him up from the dead. If you believe this, you know God no longer is against you and no longer has anything against you. On the contrary, He is for you.

The order is remarkable. First it is your mouth and then your heart. The mouth is mentioned first because your faith can only be observed by others in what they hear and see from you. You can’t say someone is saved if you don’t notice anything of it in his or her behavior and talk. The confession of Jesus as Lord is what it’s all about. It’s just not possible to accept Jesus only as Savior, as Redeemer from your sins.

A moment came in your life when you acknowledged you couldn’t save yourself and couldn’t exist before God because you had failed in everything. You failed because you were listening to a different master, the devil. And then, God showed you He has given over the Lord Jesus to death for your sins. The Lord Jesus has freed you from the burden of sin which you couldn’t bear. Aren’t you incredibly thankful for this? Now you’re His property. I hope others can see the Lord Jesus is your Lord.

Rom 10:10. Of course, the heart is what it’s all about. With your heart, you believe unto righteousness. But it must become outwardly visible because it is with your mouth you confess unto salvation.

Rom 10:11. Maybe you view your confession very poorly; it could have been a lot better. I wish I did it much better. But keep in mind what Scripture says: “Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.” Faith has to do with trust. For your salvation, you have put your trust in God and no longer in yourself.

This trust gives you the strength to witness, because it is not self-centered, but God-centered. By reading the Bible, you’ll get to know God and the Lord Jesus better, and your faith will increase. The more you study the Bible, the more you’ll see it in your practice both in word and in deed.

Now read Romans 10:5-11 again.

Reflection: What is the relation between your mouth and your heart?

Beautiful Feet

Rom 10:12. In Romans 3 you read that on account of sin there was (and is) no longer a difference between Jew and Greek (Greek and heathen being the same) (Rom 3:22). Every person is a sinner and is guilty before God. Here you read that the same Lord is rich over all who call on Him, whether Jew or Greek.

Rom 10:13. Note that Paul constantly quotes verses from the Old Testament to support what he said. He’s doing it to prove that God is not merely the God of the Jews, but also the God of the heathen. Well, you as a heathen (Gentile) may know from your experience that He is a Lord rich in grace and that He has shown mercy to you, a poor sinner! He’s not a brutal Lord Who wanted to keep you outside of grace. Since Rom 10:11 and Rom 10:13 mention “whoever”, it doesn’t leave room for limitations. However, the condition ‘believes’ is in Rom 10:11, and ‘calls on the name of the Lord’ is in Rom 10:13. To be saved you have to believe and to call on the name of the Lord, this means to give honor to Him or to adore Him.

You will agree with me that before your conversion you didn’t pay Him the honor due Him. Before, other things were important and you lost yourself in them, including sports, studying, your career, money or the way you looked. Maybe you were religious as well. However, it didn’t bring you happiness and didn’t offer you salvation. This is why you called on the name of the Lord to be saved.

When you did this, it was the first time you really honored Him. He wants to be your Savior. This is exactly the meaning of the name of Jesus: Yahweh is Savior. Then in Rom 10:13 there is a quotation from Joel 2:32. Isn’t it remarkable that He Who is called Yahweh in the Old Testament is the same as He Who receives the name of Jesus in the New Testament?

Rom 10:14. So the Lord Jesus is Yahweh of the Old Testament, but in the New Testament He comes to His people as Man. It is clear that, for the Jew, salvation was only to be found in Him. But what about us who belong to the nations? He didn’t come to us. We didn’t know of Him and didn’t believe in Him. So how then could we call on Him? Still, we were lost and had to be saved. But to be saved we had to believe in Him. If this is so, then we should be told about Him. And how could we ever have heard about Him if someone hadn’t preached Him to us? Here you see again it’s not the law and doing something that’s important, but the preaching, hearing and listening to the Word.

Rom 10:15. Someone must be sent if he is to preach. This sending is not done by some church or missionary union, but by the Lord: He is the Commissioner. And isn’t it a wonderful service for which you too have received an assignment? It is a service of proclaiming peace, proclaiming good things. One who’s proclaiming the gospel has “beautiful ... feet” as opposed to the time when his feet were swift to shed blood (Rom 3:15).

The citation of the “beautiful ... feet” is from Isaiah 52 (Isa 52:7). There, it is about “him who brings good news”, that is one person. This can be no one else but the Lord Jesus. Isn’t it a wonderful thought that in proclaiming peace and good, you are being His follower? In a world of unrest, a world in which evil reigns, you may be a messenger of peace and of good news. Many people around you are waiting for this message. Will you leave them where they are, in their misery, or are you going to tell them of that rich Lord?

Now read Romans 10:12-15 again.

Reflection: With whom and when did you last talk about the Lord Jesus?